best story ever. no seriously. you haveeeee to read this.

so my bestest friend amanda came to LA to visit for the weekend. of course it isn't a stretch to say that we had a RIGHTEOUS time filled with laughter, adventure and super duper convos.

the first day we did a tour of the best coffee shops in LA. seeing as how we only had one day to do this tour, we could only physically handle about 5 shots in a 4 hour period. so i guess that wasn't a tour of all of the best coffee shops, but two of my faves: lamill coffee boutique & cafe de leche. seriously, you haven't lived until you've tried cafe de leche's iced horchata latte. i'm telling you, if you live in LA or if you're ever visiting, its totally worth the drive through highland park to get there. basically - you haven't lived until you try it. sorry to lay it out so raw for ya'll. [insert dumb smiley face]

so that was that. the first day we got super geeked on coffee & grabbed some grubbin' thai food in pasadena. the next day was wonderful too. we hit up the farmer's market @ the grove and had some delicious indonesian food; it took me back to my childhood, the krupuk and sambal bajak, the gadogado and banana leaves. my mother grew up in indonesia; they pioneered ["pioneered" means Baha'i families who leave their homeland to move somewhere where they are able to start a new Baha'i community and/or teach the Faith] from iran to jakarta when my mother was really young. so often people tell me that they would have never guessed i was half iranian...the older i get, one of the reasons i think that [besides my fair-ish skin and light eyes] is that my mother really grew up in indonesia, not iran. i see her culturally as an indonesian. so going to the banana leaf is somewhat like paying homage to my mother, her 4 siblings, and mother [my grandmother] who lived in jakarta until she passed away in the early 80's. i've never been to indonesia, but i dream of the day when, my mother takes me there with her,  showing me all the places she hung out on her vespa with her pet monkey "moomoo".

THEN, OH THENNNNNNN, we went to the amazing women's korean spa. natura is where its at. located in downtown koreatown, this place is a serious jewel. it was both of our first times at a korean spa and it was super duper relaxing and intense. they have a green tea hot tub, a jade room and a room that is like a sauna, salt rocks covering the ground of the room, etc.... then they scrubbed [the hell out of] us and massaged us. it was so very wonderful.  AND WASHED OUR HAIR WAS WE LAYED THERE WITH FRESHLY GRATED CUCUMBER ON OUR FACES. indulgent much? yeah, we thought so too.

we were super zenned out. as we were driving back to the hotel, a [slow as hell] prius cut us off and was driving supperrr slow. amanda cursed around about how much she hates priuses and some of the drivers of those cars. hahahaha/no offense. we finally get to a light and look over at the prius driver to roll our eyes or something really mature like that, and we look over, and it was zooey deschanel. HA! ...we had a good laugh about that one [i do love her music ohsomuch]. good ol' LA.

okay. i know this is a lot of details, if anything most of this if for me, amanda and my family and my other besties who appreciate a good story. so dig it or kick it.

OKAY. 

OKAY. SO THIS IS THE BEST PART:

i took her to my favorite spot in malibu, and i wont tell you where, so it can be kept secret & empty. but anywayyyyy - its on a cliff, over looking the pacific, you don't see anything but water, and sunshine and blue blue blueeeeeee. it was a super hot day, we sat on the cliff in the sand and watched the sites, picnicked and had some really good conversations about home and the pacific northwest and our roots and our culture and our love for nature & solitude, rowdy bonfires and clean sweet air. 

after about an hour of enjoying our view - we hadn't spotted any marine life for the entire time - which isn't uncommon. i thought i had seen a whale spout, but it was a flock of birds splashing around in the distance. 

a beautiful day, a day when the ocean sparkles, like sequins in the silverish/golden light. 

there was a viewing "platform" above us, up the hill, and there was a gentlemen with his binoculars scouting the scene. he asked if we had seen any whales, i said no...we started bs'ing about the wildlife and such. 

"do you mind if i come down there?", he asked. 

 "no! we don't own the property...come on down" we responded.

he comes down to the cliff and we think he's just gonna take his binos and trek around the area, scouting the scene. but no, he sits down right next to me. like, his leg is almost touching mine. but for some strange reason, i don't mind. normally i would have found the nearest big heavy rock or stick to hold so that i could be prepared to whack him over the head with it. but he just seemed so friendly and harmless. he stood up and threw his arms in to the air and said,
"isn't this place amazing??? did you know that it is a huge energy center of the universe??"

me: "i thought so, it feels so good here!"

him: "yeah! there are two large energy centers in the world, one in kauai, one in sedona. and girls, guess what is right in the middle of that energy path?? HERE. MALIBU." his eyes sparkle and shine, excited like a young boy.

us: wow, cool man....etc, etc...

he goes on to tell us that he has grown up in malibu, surfed his entire life, lived there since he was a child, up in the hills in one of the many beautiful canyons. he talks about the shaman and indigenous peoples who have come from all over to have gatherings and spiritual practices like sweats, dances and the like. 

okay. so he's a huge hippie surfer. we got it. and i dig that, i mean, i grew up with all my male friends and suitors in alaska being professional snowboarders. and let's face it, "the only difference between a snowboarder and a surfer is that they ride different forms of water, mannnn", as my dear friend criss from home would often tell me.

so we were enjoying our conversation with him when he asks us:

"hey!! do you want to call the dolphins with me??!"

us: "yeahhhh!!!!!" both thinking "let's see what this guy is gonna do".

him: "ok. start rubbing your hands together really fast and breath from your lower dantian. "

lucky for him [and us], we were both versed in the practices of qi gong and followed suit. 

him: "keep rubbing your hands together and breath in to your lower dantian....now look up at that beautiful sun, shining its warmth and radiance down on us. look at it, then close your eyes....there should be a imprint of the sun located where your 3rd eye is [luckily for him - and us, we were versed in what your 3rd eye is]. keep breathing,....think of all that light and love, traveling from your 3rd eye, to your heart, throughout your whole body...let the light and love fill you up, and think of how much you love the dolphins, keep calling them, invite our friends to join us! invoke!"

okay. so you might be wondering why on earth we were both sitting with our eyes closed with a stranger on a remote cliff practicing this meditation. I WAS TOO. i was like, okay layli, maybe this isn't the smartest thing to do, to sit RIGHT next to a man you dont know and allow him to tell you and your best friend to close your eyes for about four minutes. ha. i opened my eyes for  a minute, and all was kosh. 

...the meditation ensued and we opened our hearts and invited the dolphins to come visit us, etc. etc. but really, we were both sincere in our pleads. and i know our newly found friend was too. okay. so the mediation was finished and he popped up and hopped around the cliff with his binos to see what he could see, to find the dolphins that we had just called with all our hearts. ;) about 7 minutes go by, we start getting anxious to move on, find our friends, so we tell him, "thank you so much, man! that was so fun! too bad we didn't get to see the dolphins". 

we weren't shocked. but he was super bummed. we hadn't seen any marine life for the last 90 minutes that we were there with our eyes glued to the water.

him: "well, okay. so weird, they didn't come! well, anyway, what are your names?"

we told him

us: what's your name?

him: malibu rockman

amanda: wow! so...do you like...go by that name daily?

malibu rockman: yeah! but you can also call me eric. [ha]

we started hiking up hill, leaving our new friend with his binoculars scouting the horizon. "well that was fun/kinda weird/kinda cool" we said to one another. 

so it has been approx. 12 mintues since we finished our "dolphin calling", getting further and further away from him,  when we hear rockman scream: "GIRLS!!! GIRLSSSSSS!!!!!!! LOOOOOKKK!!!!"

I'MNOTSHITTINGYOU - we looked toward the water, and there in the sparkly, shimmering, were atleast 45 DOLPHINS SWIMMING DIRECTLY TOWARD US. I'M NOT KIDDING YOU. NOT. ONE. BIT. FROM OUT OF THE COMPLETE BLUE, THEY POPPED UP, SHOWED THEMSELVES AND WERE DOMINATING OUR VIEW OF THE WATER FOR A GOOD 15 MINUTES. 

i don't know if you understand - there was NOTHING out there for the last hour and a half, then 12 minutes after rockman facilitates the "dolphin mediation/calling" with us, there they are, in all their glory, grace and silky moves.

but to me, this is the part that makes this story the best:  

m.rockman literally THREW his binos on the sand and sprinted toward us: "GET IN HERE GIRLS!!!!", he hollered, as he gave us a big bear hug, laughing and hollering. okay, lets be honest, by this point, we're all laughing and hollering. i might have even cried for a minute. throw in a bunch of hippie fresh lingo and sayings, praises and gratitude for light and love, for joy and peace, for unity and rainbows, [i think crystals was mentioned as well] and there we had it. the rockman helped us call those beautiful dolphins to us, on the remote point, in malibu, between two of the largest energy centers in the world. wow. mixed with "what the"??!??!??!?!

we thanked the dolphins for coming, we put our hands back up, toward the sunshine, rockman said, "we love you dolphins, thank you so much for coming".  

we ooed and aaahed for another 10 minutes or so, then had to be on our way. honestly, that day was seriously out of this world, like from another place. i don't think for the next hour we really understood what went down and what we experienced in all its glory.

we got another bear hug, exchanged information, and went our separate ways, "shocked-and-awed"- malibu style. 

we both still can't get over that story, or that experience. we've told our friends and family who have all said its one of the best stories of all time. amanda even told a book publisher on her flight back to seattle, who said it was one of the best stories he'd heard in a longgggg time. 

i found my buddy the rockman on facebook and we plan to go on a hike up to the malibu waterfall sometime soon. i can't wait for baktash to meet him and for more adventures to come. i'll ask him if he doesn't mind me putting his photograph up on the blog post. but until then, just think of a kind, pure, excited spirit who was generous enough to share such an amazing experience with us. 

it is so important to be open to adventure and friendly and loving to people who at first might not speak/"jive" just like you. cos you never know, they might be able to hook you up phat with 45+ dolphins swimming your way.

thanks, my 2 buddies, what a super amazing, unforgettable day.

*i don't proof read or spell check, but come on dudes, this is JUST a blog. pssssshhhh...